NDEs On The Importance Of Caring For Plants, Animals & The Earth

“And I said, ‘What was my purpose?’… I didn’t have a clue. I truly didn’t have a clue — how to live, what life was about, what it was to be a man, what my goals or purpose could have been. So I said ‘What was my purpose?’

“And this voice says to me, ‘The same as every man. You were put on the Earth to take care of the Earth…’ We, as men, are here to take care of the Earth. That’s one of our responsibilities, as men. It was very personal. He said, ‘You’re not to strip mine the Earth. You’re not to pollute the Earth. You’re not to destroy your home.’ And I was being indicted because I was responsible. I was a litterer. I was one that didn’t care about nature or the environment at all. And this was a beautiful home that God had created for me to live and enjoy.

“And He said, ‘Secondly, you’re here for the animals. They look up to you. You’re the one with the spirit. You’re the one with reason, with intelligence, with the strength to change things, the ability to protect them and take care of them and do for them. They don’t have that ability. And yet you destroy species after species.’ And I knew that I was responsible, partly responsible. I had hunted for sport. I had no concern for animals. I never showed any compassion — I didn’t have any compassion for animals or men.

“And He said, ‘Thirdly and most importantly, you’re here for each other. And you — this imperative, YOU — I sent to be part of the answer. You’ve just been part of the problem…’ And He began to try to teach me…”

“Many events in my life I experienced, but not from how I remembered it, but from the point of view… [of] how the people, animals, environment experienced it around me. I felt it as my own. The times I had made others happy, and sad, I felt it all as they did. It was very apparent that every single thought, word, and action affects everything around us and indeed the entire universe. Trees, plants, animals too. I have been a long-term vegetarian since about 18 years old and I know this was appreciated and is a good choice in life. Spiritually it seemed to show proof of respect for all life, and even seemed to balance some of the negative and wicked things I have done in my life. In the life review we judge ourselves; no one else does. The light/god did not. But with no ego left — and no lies — we can’t hide from what we have done and feel remorse and shame, especially in the presence of this love and light. Some of the things in life we think of as important don’t seem to be so important there. But some of the insignificant things from the material human perspective are very important spiritually.”

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I Loved The Earth And All Its Beauty And The Animals On The EarthNDEr Chamisa H

“I was in the middle of some kind of hologram. I noticed all my feelings, emotions, personality and knowledge were still with me and that I carried a large amount of anger toward certain people, especially my parents and the religion they used against me. I’d been an agnostic for years. Then once having this experience during surgery in an out of my body state, I suddenly observed a Being of Light instantly entering this holographic space and when he came, I was washed with a flood of love and forgiveness for everyone and everything. I even loved the earth and all its beauty and the animals on the earth and “felt” the spiritual process we are all in, and how we are literally tied together as brothers and sisters needing to be unified in love and care.”

“EVERYTHING I ever thought, did, said, hated, helped, did not help, should have helped was shown in front of me, the crowd of hundreds and everyone like a movie. How mean I’d been to people, how I could have helped them, how mean I was (unintentionally also) to animals! Yes! Even the animals had had feelings. It was horrible. I fell on my face in shame. I saw how my acting, or not acting, rippled in effect towards other people and their lives. It wasn’t until then, that I understood how each little decision or choice affects the World. The sense of letting my Savior down was too real. Strangely, even during this horror, I felt a compassion, an acceptance of my limitations by Jesus and the crowd of Others.”

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Watering A Tree Caused All The Spirits In The Universe To Feel Joy
NDEr Mohammad Z

“One example of my life review was when I was a little kid. We were traveling by car and stopped somewhere along the way. There was a river not far from the road and I was asked to go and bring some water in a bucket from that river. I went to fill up the bucket but on my way back, I felt that the bucket was way too heavy for me. I decided to empty some of the water to make the bucket lighter. Instead of emptying the water right there, I noticed a tree that was alone by itself in a dry patch of land. I took the effort to go out of my way to that tree and emptied some of the water at the tree base. I even waited there a few seconds to make sure the water is soaked in the soil and is absorbed. In my life review, I received such an applaud and joy for this simple act that it is unbelievable. It was like all the spirits in the Universe were filled with joy from this simple act and were telling me we are proud of you. That simple act seemed to be one of the best things I had ever done in my life! This was strange to me, because I didn’t think this little act was a big deal and thought I had done much more important and bigger things. However, it was shown to me that what I had done was extremely valuable because I had done it purely from the heart, with absolutely no expectation for my own gain.

“Another example of my life review was when I was a 10 years old boy. I had bullied and mercilessly beaten another boy who was also around my age. He felt tortured and deeply hurt. In my life review, I saw that scene again. The boy was crying in physical and deep emotional pain. As he was walking in the street crying and going back home, he radiated negative energy which affected everything around him and on the path. People and even birds, trees, and flies received this negative energy from him, which kept propagating throughout the Universe. Even rocks on the side of the street were affected by his pain. I saw that everything is alive and our way of grouping things in categories of ‘alive’ and ‘not alive’ is only from our limited physical point of view. In reality everything is alive. I felt all of the pain and hurt that I had inflicted upon him inside of myself. When this boy went home to his parents, I saw the impact that seeing him in that state had on his parents. I felt the feeling and pain it created in them and how it affected their behavior from that point forward. I saw that as a result of this action, his parents would be always more worried when their son was out of home or if he was a few minutes late.

“I saw that whenever I had done something good to anyone or anything, that I had done it to myself. And whenever I had hurt someone, I had done it to myself while actually doing that person a favor because they would receive some form of compensation or help from the Universe as a result. This universal gift would be bigger than the damage I had caused to them…”

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God Is Aware Of Everything – There Is Not Even An Insect That Is Overlooked
NDEr Scott H

“You think you have a body because you were “above” it all, but the view what I had was what I’m sure was the operating table with my head cocked to the right, and then looking down my right arm, just looking down past my arm about 15 feet away on a white floor, and the walls were white, with white tile, so it may have been the operating room, and I was just looking that direction and all of a sudden Bear appeared walking toward me on the floor. Everything about him was Bear. The reason we called him Bear was because he was black and had a little stubby tail, and he kind of had a swagger to him when he walked, like a bear does. He was looking up at me as me as he was walking toward me, and our eyes were connected. It was like I could tell, I don’t want to say I could tell what he was thinking, but it was very comforting, a comfort feeling. There was light emanating from him and around, it was like a warm looking orangish yellow kind of light emanating from him. And I went to say… I wanted to say, I could feel it in my chest wanting to say, “Beaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr”… when a voice spoke to me that said, “Leave Bear alone, Scott”. And I let Bear keep coming, and the voice told me, “Look at him. He’s perfect.” Then there was another pause, and then it said, “Bear doesn’t need you anymore, Scott.” I know it sounds sad in a way but I felt so good because I could feel Bear, I could feel that he was great, and I could see it, and I knew what it meant, so I was so comfortable beyond belief and relieved knowing. Bear still was… he is. The messages I got were the answers to questions anyone that anyone who has ever owned a pet, whether in childhood or ever, always wanted to know. They have a connection, not only in life where you feel a connection, a love. I always felt that way. You know there are religions that believe that animals don’t go to heaven because they don’t have souls, but I know better. **Comment: I don’t think we’re all that more special than cats and dogs ** It goes so far beyond that. A gentleman asked me, “do you think the Lord knows this or that?” – God knows if your lawn is too dry. If the grass is too long. There is not an insect small enough or insignificant enough to be overlooked. That is a very difficult thing for me or anyone to understand — how could a being be so in touch with everything all at one time? Trillions of things going on just on earth, let alone the whole universe. Think of all the things going on — the insects, the animals, the sea creatures — but yet there is not a time when his eye is taken off any of us. It’s hard to comprehend that, but through my experience, I was told that’s how it is.”

“They showed me that all animals have souls and how disrespectful it was to pass by a deceased animal on the road without giving it compassion. I explained one could get killed attempting such. But they said it was just how our times are. They also said that plants have a soul too. Now this was hard for me to swallow but since my NDE I have seen studies where they talk nice to one plant and nasty to a similar one and one thrives and one dies. There are also plants that have senses and emit odors or react when touched, so I believe it now. I asked how will we survive without eating plants. They said we are expected to eat plants and animals, that we just need to have compassion, respect and appreciation for them. Gracing our food before eating is probably the best for now. Plants and animals knowingly sacrifice themselves for humans, so be appreciative.”

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Animal Rights And The Rights Of The Weak And Poor Is The Most Important Thing To Me
NDEr Maria TK

“I’ve changed from non-believer and materialist, career person, to spiritual, believer, having contacts with the dead and not giving so much importance to how I live here on earth. Animal rights and the rights of the weak and poor is the most important thing to me. I fight for the weakest!”

“I spoke to some of my relatives and agreed to pass messages on for them. I spoke to my animals and agreed to help animals. I laughed, I cried. All the time I was also aware of my body and I was watching what was happening to it.”

“As I was doing my life review, at about five years old, spirit wanted me to see that I… was very much in touch with nature as a child. That was a beautiful place to be and a lesson that I needed to bring back: the power of nature is an amazing thing. The minute I thought about that, suddenly I was in this otherworldly place. The grass was so green. The light was so bright. It felt like heaven, perhaps… As I was walking through this grass, I wanted to come back and remind others to connect with nature; that there is so much peace and beauty and joy that can be had in nature. It’s important to spend time — peaceful time — in nature.”

“At the end of my life-review, I ended up in a vividly green, lush, heavenly landscape. Much like my spirit body felt eternal, the grass, trees, and the natural landscape of heaven appeared deeply and completely alive without a hint of desecration. I wondered if this is how beautiful nature could be if we lived in greater balance.

“There is healing potential in nature. I have known this at various times even before my near-death experience, but to hear the command ‘Remind them to go to nature’ as a direct message from the heavens has stayed with me.”

“The next thing I remember is traveling quickly over the Earth. It felt very surreal while doing so. It almost seemed that I was being shown a movie.. and yet the movie seemed alive. Like flying over a panoramic movie of a live scene on earth. I believe they have a ride like this at Disneyland.

“I have lost much of what I saw, but I held onto the main idea of what I was being told while moving over the planet.. or rather having a movie OF the planet being shown before me…. There were fields of crops all over, in specific. As I would zoom in and get close, for instance, to a field of wheat, I would be told, ‘This has been poisoned. The food has been altered and poisoned. It is no longer pure. The people are consuming impure food. This is death.’ I felt sad and concerned about this and wondered why… or how it was possible. How could a field of wheat or corn be ‘poisoned’… and WHY?! I was told that man should return to the Earth or death would ensue everywhere. It was said again and again during this scene to ‘Return to the Earth.’ I was told that upon my return, that I should look for pure food, unadulterated.. and only consume that which is ‘clean’…”

“Since that time, everything has changed for me. My health has returned. I get stronger and stronger each year. To my own surprise, I found the day after this event that I felt well, except that I could not eat any meat at all. Nor did I have any desire to. I’ve been a vegetarian since then. I eat a lot of raw organic foods. I don’t eat anything with chemical ingredients, and keep my food very pure. My children and husband eat mostly this way too now, and we are all feeling great.”

“I was shown the problem with our food supply also. I saw fields burning and know that God is very upset about it. A stem of wheat was held up to me to see without any explanation but a feeling of danger was given to me.”

“People who have had NDEs tend to be especially sensitive to their physical environment after they return. They are less able to tolerate anything that is inconsistent with the intensely vital, life-giving energy of the other realm. Thus, they have more adverse reactions to pharmaceuticals, other drugs, and alcohol than previously. Many avoid foods that contain chemicals or artificial sweeteners and prefer organic foods instead. Some become vegetarians. They seek out nature and fresh air. This sensitivity extends to sounds. Many NDEs include music, and NDErs typically feel drawn to music that resonates with their experience. They prefer natural, gentle, melodious sounds and take more pleasure than before in classical or soothing music. They dislike loud, jarring noise.”

“I am a more compassionate and tolerant person than I was prior to my experience. I live my life in a spiritual way with regard for all creatures and the environment. I no longer kill anything if I can help it, where before I was a champion spear fisherman and hunter. I am a vegan who supports animal welfare causes and my wife I have taken in rescued pets as family members.”

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To learn more about near-death experiencer David Milarch and the important work he is doing, go here.

Bone-tired after a long day of driving south from Olympia, Washington, my mind fixated on arriving at the hotel in Crescent City, California, in one piece. I carefully navigated my Honda down the narrow, twisty highway over the coast range, finally leaving the hills behind as late afternoon turned to evening. Coming out onto the flatland along the Pacific coast seemed to propel me into another world. Trees taller than a 30-storey building engulfed me. The late-day light filtering through their massive trunks turned the encroaching fog a glistening, luminous gold. Speechless, I felt tears begin to make their way down my cheeks. My car somehow found its way into the nearest pullout. I climbed out and simply stared around me with awe, and some familiarity. As when I visited Heaven, I felt I was at home once again.

The redwoods reminded me so much of the forests of Heaven that I was on the verge of tears for the several days I visited. But not only did these glorious trees remind me of my time in the spiritual realm, I began to sense something else. Call it wisdom, intelligence, or consciousness, I immediately felt as if the trees were communicating with me. Now, months later, I believe they were speaking to me in their own way.

Think I’m nuts? I did at first. While many NDErs do admit to continuing contact with the spiritual realm, being able to perceive others’ thoughts, or any phenomena that we might label “psychic,” not too many of us admit to having detailed conversations with trees. But while Mary guided me through Heaven, one of the things she stressed was that ALL things in the physical have Divine love humming at their cores, and ALL things also have a form of consciousness.

It’s interesting that science is beginning to back up her claims with solid evidence. Below are just a few articles to get you started:

The research presented in the articles above is beginning to show that plants:

• Have memory
• Can learn from experience
• Can communicate with each other
• Can hear…and react to what they hear
• They respond to human anesthetics
• They produce their own neurotransmitters
• And much more…

While it’s obviously different from ours, new scientific evidence indicates that plants have a form of consciousness, something that many spiritual traditions have held as truth for thousands of years.

What does that mean for us, then, as we harvest our vegetables and munch on a salad? How can we make peace with the fact that everything we consume may have some level of consciousness?

Trust me, God doesn’t want you to starve. Eat your salad, but perhaps think about making an adjustment to your attitude if it’s warranted.

My first suggestions: follow your intuition and nutritionist on what to eat; send your plants good thoughts as you grow them, and feel true gratitude toward them during the harvest; be truly grateful for the food on your plate at each meal. Simple stuff really, but giving love and gratitude back to your garden and food is returning the gift of love (nutrition) the plants are giving you.

Once again we come back to the cycle and circle of love, the core of it all.

But those redwoods, they are more ancient and complex than lettuce or cauliflower. I felt the passing of millennia when I stood in that forest. I sensed their generations of 1,000 years or more anchoring them to that stretch of coastline, while ours of a mere 20 or 30 years seem fleeting and inconsequential in comparison. One generation of those redwoods takes us back to the Middle Ages in Europe or the height of the Mayan Empire here in the Americas. Another generation backward takes us to the time of Jesus or even the Buddha, yet another generation and we’re visiting the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. Just a handful of generations of redwoods spans the entirety of recorded human history.

The real question might be: how do we go forward with this knowledge that plants are conscious? Perhaps it’s time we consider the physical world as a much more intelligent, spiritual, and interconnected place than we ever dreamed possible. I see that every day, increasing numbers of people are making this shift to a more inclusive view of spirituality and consciousness, but I can’t tell you how to make that shift for yourself. For me, it includes bringing my spiritual consciousness to the forefront of my day as much as possible; to be *present* and aware of my choices and their impacts on the world around me; and to feel gratitude for all that I have and experience in my life.

Remember to send love to your plants and feel gratitude for your salad.

“The world that they showed me in the near future, in a couple hundred years from now, is a world that is difficult for me to understand or accept. What I saw was no visible signs of technology. If there was technology, they hid it from me — or it was so subtle that I couldn’t even see it… I assumed the future would be a world of high technology and they showed me a world of not low technology, but NO technology. Where people’s relationship with God, with the creation, and with one another was so intense that human beings controlled the weather of the planet — not just for the welfare of human beings, but for the welfare of the entire planet. Everybody in the world was telepathically connected to everybody else in the whole world. People raised food by simply meditating or thinking about the food and the food would just grow and then would pick it and eat it… It was not instantaneous, but it happened before your eyes. Cabbage would grow from a seed to a full grown cabbage in a matter of a few minutes.

“People lived in small communities. People could move from community to community, freely, if they wanted to. Most people didn’t move around very much. Some communities put an emphasis on music. Some communities put an emphasis on science. Some communities put an emphasis on celebration, liturgy, worship. Some communities spent their time on physical relaxation and enjoyment, sports, and that sort of thing. Some communities were very contemplative and did seemingly very little. Some communities were very active and were very much engaged with their environment, sort of what we would call gardeners, but they were literally environmental sculptors, making these very beautiful places with the vegetation and the geology around them. Different communities had different emphasis, but they lived in total harmony with the flora and the fauna around them and in complete harmony with one another. The main emphasis of every community was the individuals in the community and most especially the children.

“When people had experienced what they felt was their full life experience, there would be a great celebration, and they would lay down and die and their souls, their spirits would be raised up to heaven. Dying was not seen as a sad thing, or grievous thing. It was a joyous time. It was celebrated as a birth.

“People ate simply. Dressed simply. From what I was shown, there were no possessions other than the clothes on their back and a few simple instruments like musical instruments, or tools, or things like that which were pretty much shared communally.

“It was a world that’s very difficult for me to make any sense of because there was great happiness. There was very little suffering. There was no disease because people, with laying on of hands, could heal diseases immediately. The only real suffering that they showed me was sometimes people felt a sense of separateness. And the community would allow these people to feel that, but they would pray for that person, they would surround that person with love and bring that person back into the community. So it was possible for people to move a little bit away from the spirit of the community, but they were brought back into the community. No one was left, no one was ever lost for very long. It was important sometimes for people to feel; to appreciate what they had, they needed to loose a little bit of it once and awhile.

“The spirit of Christ lived in every heart — fully and completely. It’s a world that is so unlike the world that we live in. How can we ever get there? But they showed me that this is the world that God envisioned for us and it’s not that far away.”

You think I’m an ignorant savage
And you’ve been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don’t know
You don’t know

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You’ll learn things you never knew, you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun sweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they’re worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow
If you cut it down, then you’ll never know
And you’ll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still
All you’ll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

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Quotes

"Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the Divine." -- David Sunfellow

“Merely learning about the near-death experience has effects similar to those reported by NDErs.” -- Kenneth Ring,
from "Lessons from the Light"

“For me personally, I’m showing more love to others now than before I started my near-death-experience studies. My understanding of near-death experiences has made me a better doctor. I face life with more courage and confidence. I believe NDErs really do bring back a piece of the afterlife. When NDErs share their remarkable experiences, I believe a piece of the afterlife, in some mysterious way, becomes available to us all.” -- Jeffrey Long, "Evidence of the Afterlife"

"I'm not asking you to believe anything. I'm simply telling you what I believe. And I have no idea what the next life will be like. Whatever I saw was only from the doorway, so to speak. But it was enough to convince me totally of two things from that moment on: One, that our consciousness does not cease with physical death; that it becomes, in fact, keener and more aware than ever. And secondly, that how we spend our time on earth, the kind of relationships we build, is vastly more important than we can know." -- George G. Ritchie, M.D., summarizing his famous near-death experience which helped launch the near-death experience movement. From his book, "Return From Tomorrow"

"Many events in my life I experienced, but not from how I remembered it, but from the point of view... [of] how the people, animals, environment experienced it around me. I felt it as my own. The times I had made others happy, and sad, I felt it all as they did. It was very apparent that every single thought, word, and action affects everything around us and indeed the entire universe. Trees, plants, animals too. I have been a long-term vegetarian since about 18 years old and I know this was appreciated and is a good choice in life. Spiritually it seemed to show proof of respect for all life, and even seemed to balance some of the negative and wicked things I have done in my life. In the life review we judge ourselves; no one else does. The light/god did not. But with no ego left -- and no lies -- we can't hide from what we have done and feel remorse and shame, especially in the presence of this love and light. Some of the things in life we think of as important don't seem to be so important there. But some of the insignificant things from the material human perspective are very important spiritually." -- Justin U describing his near-death experience on the NDERF website

"I have never interviewed anyone who had a near-death experience who told me that they came back to make more money or to spend more time at their jobs away from their families... Instead, they become convinced that they need to be more loving and kind. They react to their experience by living life to its fullest. They believe their lives have a purpose, even if that purpose is obscure to them. Invariably it involves concepts such as love of family or service to others. They seem to know that the love they create while living will be reflected and radiated back to them when they die." -- Melvin Morse, M.D., from his book, Parting Visions

“I went into this tunnel, and I came into this room that was just beautiful. God held me, He called me by name, and He told me, ‘Mary Jo, you can’t stay.’ And I wanted to stay. I protested. I said, ‘I can’t stay? Why not?’ And I started talking about all the reasons; I was a good wife, I was a good mother, I did 24-hour care with cancer patients. And He said, ‘Let me ask you one thing -- have you ever loved another the way you’ve been loved here?’ And I said, ‘No, it’s impossible. I’m a human.’ And then He just held me and said, ‘You can do better.’ ” -- Mary Jo Rapini, describing her near-death experience

"I asked them if there were other worlds. And they said, yes, the universe is full of other worlds -- and there are other dimensions of other physical universes and those are full of other worlds." -- Howard Storm describing his NDE in "My Descent Into Death"

"The Light kept changing into different figures, like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, mandalas, archetypal images and signs. I asked the Light, “What is going on here? Please, Light, clarify yourself for me... The Light responded. The information transferred to me was that during your life after death experience your beliefs shape the kind of feedback you are getting before the Light. If you were a Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist, you get a feedback loop of your own stuff. You have a chance to look at it and examine it, but most people do not. As the Light revealed itself to me, I became aware that what I was really seeing was our higher Self matrix." -- Mellen-Thomas Benedict

"God gave everything to us, everything is here -- this is where it's at. And what we are into now is God's exploration of God through us. People are so busy trying to become God that they ought to realize that we are already God and God is becoming us. That's what it is really about. When I realized this, I was finished with the void, and wanted to return to this creation..." -- Mellen-Thomas Benedict

“In one of my visits with the Light I was told that the near-death experience... would become more and more popular and it would have an affect on the entire world when a critical mass was hit and all these people have died and come back and are telling you that there is a lot more going on than we think." -- Mellen-Thomas Benedict